My child went there without our realizing it wasn’t an accredited school. (Our mistake) But a cult?!!?! Who would have ever thought?!

After being there for a while…my child had been advised not to communicate with any outside family at all. After all…they wouldnt understand IHOP teachings… He kept that up for 4 years. No calls, no emails, no letters, no nothing. It was worse than losing someone to death because there was no “closure”. I lived life like I’d lost a family member somewhere but had no way of looking since I wasn’t welcome in his life.

Finally the day arrived (after MUCH prayer) that he completely pulled away from IHOP. Praise God! No reason has EVER been discussed. .. I NEVER ask but depend on God’s timing to ever find out what drove him away.

I just praise God that he is far, FAR away from IHOP now and still loves the Lord immensely. He never did get into the contemplative prayer, I found out, because he “can’t sit still for that long” (Thank you, Jesus!) THAT much I did find out. So I can say that the demonic part of the New Age IHOP teachings never did permeate my child’s heart.

I did tell one other parent about what IHOP had done to my child and was basically told I was totally wrong. I was told that IHOP was a wonderful place. (Silly me.) Only later did I learn this same woman and her “prophet-husband” were also Bethel followers… need I say more?

PARENTS, if you are thinking that IHOP is a place where you would like to send your child, I honestly ask you DO YOU really want to go through what I went through? It was a nightmare for me and my family. It didn’t provide any accredited degree for my child either. I pray this keeps you from allowing your child to go there as well.

PS. The contemplative prayer to which I was referring is a New Age practice in which one goes into self-induced hypnosis otherwise known as Transcendental Meditation. TM is also very high on the Yoga list but that’s a whole nother subject…

Nowhere in scripture are we commanded to pray for Wolves. Expose them? Yes. Pray for them? No. If I’ve missed that verse, or verses, please let me know.

Scripture rather tells us to expose the wolves. We are to be like the Bereans and check out every little joy and tittle against scripture and make SURE what they’re teaching is in line with God’s word.

We are not to bid them good day or invite them in our homes. It amazes me that believers in Christ Jesus KNOW not to invite Jehovahs Witnesses or Mormons in their homes and KNOW not to argue with them. Yet they still turn around and listen, read and study the writings of false teachers/prophets and talk about how anointed they are! Folks, you better be spending quality time in prayer before you support any teacher saying “God told me”…

Yes, I believe God still does speak to His children but be careful! Ministries that suddenly become prosperous are dependent upon something ‘other’ than the simple leading of the Holy Spirit. Be very aware that scripture does teach us about “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. It wouldn’t warn us unless they were overtly out there.

To the followers of IHOP, all I can say is RUN. Get away before your head gets stuffed up with wrong teachings and before you’ve opened yourself, your soul to contemplative prayer — which is the emptying of your mind…in which Satan finds a nice, cleaned out place to Comon’ in and make yourself at home…

It ruined this family for years until the Holy Spirit, after tremendous amounts of prayer were lifted, intervened and rescued a child from its decept.

The contemplative prayer that Mike Bickle
promotes at IHOP is all about “self”.

YOU want to get in God’s presence.

YOU want to feel him inside of you so strongly.

It is all you, you, you!

The only problem is that “god” that’s inside of you, that feeling you get? That is not our Heavenly Father but rather the complete opposite.

And when you put yourself before your Heavenly Father, you’ve made yourself THE important one.

Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.

So congratulations. If you’re doing contemplative prayer you have just entered being part of the “evil generation” according to what Jesus is told us. It’s nothing short of transcendental meditation. It is absolutely identical. The only way you can effectively practice contemplative prayer is to have your mind reaches state of complete nothingness, just like transcendental meditation.

And from this contemplative prayer, Mike Bickel has said this is where he’s gotten a lot of his ideas. Ideas as to Which Way, “God” wants him to go. The only problem is it’s not God who’s telling him to go in any direction. His directions are coming from a Satanic level which is why IHOP is responsible for breaking so many families apart and taking so many young minds and warping them.
IF you are practicing contemplative prayer and truly do want to be in the center of God’s will, then repent. Turn from it and never go back. Ask for His forgiveness. He can clean you up and then fill you with Himself.

I used to be an accountant for Kansas City Fellowship/Metro Vineyard Fellowship/Grace Ministries/Abounding Grace Bookstore/Grace Travel/ etc. in the precursor to IHOP in the late 80’s. I consistently found Mike Bickle misrepresenting the purpose of contributions/donations/special offerings in large conferences, where people gave sacrificially to the extent people often put diamond wedding rings, gold coins, etc. in the offering plates. For example, in several large national conferences, special offerings were often taken specifically for “missions and outreach to Guatemala, India, etc.” but, in reality, the funds were deposited in the the main bank accounts and not paid to specific “missions.” While there was occasional financial support given to missionaries, other ministries, etc., it wasn’t close to the amounts received from these special offerings, and/or it was often used to pay for the main leadership staff to go on “mission trips.”

Also, while all staff were paid a salary on a pay scale based on the size of the their families, not the value they contributed to the organization, and while Mike Bickle ‘claimed publicly’ he was on the same scale, he had a ministry credit card he used for many questionable expenses, basically personal expenses he claimed were ministry expenses to the extent of tens of thousands of dollars per year, when a family of 4 was “supposed to be on a pay scale of about $24,000-I honestly don’t remember exactly-it was in the late 80’s.” Not to mention the “Perks” he received from being the leader, people giving him and his family cars, travel, vacations, meals, etc. In my broken, imperfect opinion, he spent an inordinate amount of time traveling to “build” his ministry than staying at his home church ministering his personal flock.

As I was the recipient of most questions about the ministry finances and how they were being used, and I felt very uncomfortable misrepresenting the truth, and instead of outright lying – I sometimes skirted the questions and sometimes I told the explicit truth. It singed my heart.

Additionally, due to experiencing these misrepresentations, I suggested we join and have the financials be reviewed according the EFCA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) but was “subtlety” told not to pursue that option. When I told him and the executive staff I didn’t feel comfortable with the misrepresentations of the financial “stories” being told publicly, he made excuses-rationalized it away, and yet it wasn’t but a month or so later that I was told I was being “let go,” this, right in the middle of being engaged and preparing for my wedding, just a few months away, and now unemployed and having to search for a job. I wasn’t being let go/fired for my work performance, it was presented to me I needed to find something to better support my soon-to-be new wife—however, it was clear that since I challenged Mike Bickle, there was no place in the organization for anyone who questioned him.

Let me say it this way, if people think President O’Bummer or Presidential Candidate Donald Trump are manipulative sociopathic narcissists…these guys are “hacks” compared to Mike Bickle and the leadership in his internal and affiliated organizations. It has been reported here and elsewhere the LIES he’s told publicly that have been PROVEN to be untrue over and over again – yet even today, he continues to REPEAT them as truth. (it is one thing to be broken, wounded and imperfect follower of Christ misstating the truth… but a church leader, self-claimed “Apostle” who has been a PROVEN LIAR to CONTINUE TO LIE?) “Partial truth” is the GREATEST & MOST POWERFUL WEAPON of the enemy. (see C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters) And, IHOP, Mike Bickle and his direct internal ministry leaders and those who are externally affiliated are unrepentantly FULL of “Partial Truth” (and straight-out FALSEHOOD).

It deeply saddens my heart to see how many good-hearted people, honestly seeking an intimate relationship with their Heavenly Father are deceived and sucked into the verbal and emotional manipulations of this “organization” and being led astray like sheep to slaughter. (and I don’t have time to tell you of the many, many people I know personally who have rejected their faith as a direct result of being involved with KCF/Grace Ministries/MVF/IHOP.) Inspect the FRUIT.

This revelation of “CHANGING the understanding and expression of Christianity” are words probably given to Mike Bickle in 1982 straight from a demonic spirit straight from the Pit of Hell, but they sure are NOT TRUTH!

My personal caveat: This is as close to the truth as I remember, I may be slightly inaccurate with some specific details, but it is not my intention to misrepresent, nor bear false witness against anyone.

I found this article this morning on Lighthouse Trails and wanted to share this because this is what contemplative prayer is. It is nothing but the same meditation used in eastern religions. It is demonic and there is not one ounce of Christianity in it. Enjoy this article.

Lighthouse Trails resources warning about the dangers of Yoga.
Caryl Matrisciana discusses Yoga positions (Are they OK?)
To experience the stilling or emptying of the mind, Yoga practitioners must first master the physical postures and movements of Yoga meditation. The physical exercises, themselves a religious Hindu ritual, are designed to bring a person into contact with spiritual beings. Speaking of her Yoga sessions, Cindy Senarighi said she noticed she was “in the presence of God in a way that I had never been before. The more I practiced, the more I experienced God’s presence.”1
Yoga positions facilitate altered states of mind so that one may experience a mystical presence. But does Yoga facilitate God’s presence? Can the use of a mantra or Yoga meditation really bring Christ into our lives? George Alexander, author of Yoga, the Truth Behind the Posture, answers this important question:

You cannot force Jesus to come into your life. But [a] mantra is something that . . . force[s] a spirit to come into your life. [The] Bible very clearly teaches you cannot force the Spirit of God to come into your life by repeating His name.2

The Bible teaches that the presence of God cannot be manipulated by man’s desire for His presence. One is granted access to the biblical God only through Jesus Christ His Son, who declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
The born-again Christian has a personal connection with God because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Jesus has promised to abide with us as we abide in Him through His grace and the power of His Spirit. There are no body movements or special positions necessary to bring one into communion with God’s Spirit. The only connection to God has been made by Jesus Christ Himself.

Demons, however, easily make contact with individuals using visualization, imaging techniques, mantras, and so forth. They are able to manipulate people’s minds, to make themselves appear as benevolent or superior beings or even as Jesus Christ Himself. Through Eastern meditation techniques, many mistake evil spirits appearing as Jesus for theactual Jesus Christ. The real Jesus is the only way to God the Father—no one else can also be a way to God—not Mary, not an angel, not a spirit claiming to be Jesus, not any other being.
God is not deceived by appearances. Putting Christian labels on conjuring techniques does not change His mind about them. Whatever conjures up a spirit is always an offense to Him and sin for us. Whether ignorantly conjuring up a spirit by the Kundalini energy released by Yoga exercises, or deliberately conjuring up spirit guides through meditation, the silence, contemplative prayer, it is all part of enchantment or divination: “discovering things secret by the aid of superior beings, or other than human means.”3 God clearly forbids this kind of activity:
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. . . . Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:26, 31)
Interestingly, George Alexander says that the serpent “is a very prominent deity” in Hinduism. He explains the significance:
If you look in the picture of Lord Shiva in Hinduism, you see a snake wrapped around his neck. They believe that the serpent power is in every person and the serpent power is sleeping in you. By practicing Yoga, it awakens that Kundalini power in you. . . . [W]hen the Kundalini power is awakened, that goes up to the brain and awakens the psychic power.4
This is why the positions in Yoga are so important; they are based on serpents’ movements to facilitate the flow of the Kundalini serpent energy. Western Yoga practitioners think this energy is a neutral force. It is not. Yoga exercises do not release the energy from within a person’s own spine. The sensations of Kundalini energy and an altered state of consciousness are produced by a demonic presence.
Most cultures view the serpent positively and worship it for its wisdom. Only the Bible describes the serpent as man’s enemy, a usurper who wishes to take the Creator God’s rightful place in the mind of mankind. In Hinduism, the serpent (Kundalini) is believed to be awakened through Yoga meditation, granting the practitioner an awareness of God, a stillness, a god-consciousness.
The Bible records that Satan, in the serpent, cunningly beguiled Eve and seduced her mind, corrupting her from a sincere, whole-hearted and pure devotion to God. He deceived her into believing a lie: that she, through her mind, could be like God. Ironically, Yoga, through arousal of snake power, the mind-altering experience of the Kundalini spirit in the body, continues to deceive all its practitioners with the same lie (excerpt from Out of India)
To understand the true spirituality behind Yoga, read Chris Lawson’s booklet tract, Yoga and Christianity: Are They Compatible? and Caryl Matrisciana’s book, Out of India.
Endnotes:
1. Yoga Uncoiled: from east to west (Menifee, CA: Caryl Productions, 2007) quoting George Alexander, quoting Cindy Senarighi.

why there must be people praying throughout the globe in order for Jesus to return.Matthews 24:36 “No one knows when that day or hour will come —not the angels in heaven, nor the … day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

So how is it that IHOP has determined “a way” for Jesus to return? i.e. (everyone praying at the same time for Christ’s return)

And what would the Bereans say to this? I say this since it is not anywhere in scripture that this command is given.

In Fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit: 5 Practical Phrases, International House of Prayer leader Mike Bickle gives instructions on how to experience contemplative prayer–which he calls “communing prayer.” Like all Christian contemplatives, Bickle works hard at presenting this as biblically acceptable. He states there is “…a lot of counterfeit mysticism…” Before teaching his Christianese mantra method, he again emphasizes he is not talking about Eastern or Oprah religion.

According to Bickle, “I use sentences, better yet phrases. Eventually on these five phrases I’m gonna give you in a minute, I reduce those to one word…” (42:13 of video, give or take)

There is much throughout this entire video to cause concern. (click_HERE_for_video)

I am sorry to say contemplative prayer seems foundational to IHOP, which means much deception has occurred, and will continue to occur. As covered elsewhere, Mike Bickle wants Fire Within, a book promoting the teachings of Catholic contemplatives Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, to be the “manual for IHOP-KC.” (click_HERE_for_article)

Mike Bickle “claims that God is restoring contemplative prayer to the church. He goes on to claim that contemplative prayer is a God-ordained means of entering into the fullness of God, and that the brightest lights in church history have been Roman Catholic mystics who lived during the dark ages. Click here to continue reading.

Related Information:

Mike Bickle “Want[s]” Contemplative Mysticism Book to be “the manual for IHOP–KC.”

Just for the record: there have been a lot of comments that I have not posted due to their hateful nature.
Also for the record: I do not hate Mike Bickel. I do not hate the teachers that work under him. I do hate the New Age agenda however, and I do take a stand against that.

For those of you who keep writing in and telling me how hateful I am, your comments are still going to go in the trash bin. So when you do write me, don’t waste your time by telling me how hateful I am etc. because if you do that, your mail will just go right in the trash bin.